Photographer Kai Schäfer creates a time machine with records.

German photographer Kai Schäfer is using photographs of records on turntables to tap into the same emotions that hearing those same records conjures up. Using only first pressings from the native country of a record’s release and period turntables, Schäfer is appealing to collectors who would call him out otherwise. You can’t quite get the full impact online, but some of the photos are as big as six feet and make for the perfect wall hangings in any vinyl sanctuary.

Environmental flyness

Your record going wood may not be a bad thing soon. Instructables software engineer Amanda Ghassaei has followed up her 3-D printed record with a laser-cut wooden record that looks better than any vinyl we’ve ever seen.

SNL performance and Yeezus cover

Kanye’s back. After launching a sixty-six building video premiere around the world on Friday night, Ye hit SNL to perform two new tracks “Black Skinhead” and “New Slaves” and dropped the cover for the new album Yeezus hitting streets June 18. If these two tracks are any indication, sounds like he’s got a lot on his mind.

1969 Newport Jazz Festival

Wolfgang’s Vault’s concert section is a goldmine of lost treasures. From Charles Mingus to the Meters to The Police, they have the classic live show archive on lock. Today, we’re treated to James Brown’s legendary 1969 Newport Jazz Festival performance that finds James, Maceo, Clyde and crew in top form. The ’69 festival lineup was decidedly not jazzy enough for the purists, revealing just how far off the mark so many critics were at the time. Alongside Art Blakey, Lee Morgan, and Mingus were a host of big arena rock acts like Zappa, Zeppelin, and Sly Stone. But even the biggest haters couldn’t front on Soul Brother Number One’s tight stage show. So if you’re still feeling that lost hour of sleep from this past weekend, get on the good foot and peep this classic JB set here.

Explores Hip-Hop's Roots in '70s NYC Gang Culture

Filmmaker and WP friend Shan Nicholson has directed a dope documentary about late-60s/mid-70s New York City gangs and their influence on hip-hop culture. We’ve been fans since peeping an early cut a couple of years ago, but it looks like now he’s approaching the finish line. With appearances by the likes of the Ghetto Brothers, Savage Skulls, and Black Spades in both archival and modern footage, the film paints a vivid portrait of the war-like environment NYC kids were coming up in at the time. Like so many out here fighting the good fight for their art, our man needs a little help and set up a Kickstarter campaign to let the people speak. Check the video and then throw him a few ducats to help get this definitive piece of history in theaters.